Consumers Now Say They’re More Likely to Share Good Than Bad Experiences

In a reversal from past research (see here and here) consumers are more likely to share good experiences than bad ones, according to a recent Temkin Group survey. In fact, just 14% of the 10,000 US consumers surveyed said they were tight-lipped following a recent very good experience with a company, compared to 35% who didn’t tell anyone following a very bad experience.

The most common way of responding to a very good or very bad experience was to tell friends about it via email, phone, or in-person, something which roughly half of respondents reported doing. The next-most popular way of reacting to an interaction was to send feedback directly to the company, which one-quarter did following a very good experience and 30% did following a very bad experience.

Close behind, almost one-quarter (23%) reported writing something about the experience on Facebook, with this response equally likely regardless of the nature of the experience.

It’s somewhat surprising to see more claiming to withhold information about a bad than good experience, as the individual responses surveyed saw relatively equal levels of action. This suggests that while fewer consumers share their negative experiences, they do so using more channels.

Supermarkets delivered the lowest rate of negative experiences, at just 3.9%. That tallies with the above-mentioned Temkin Group data, in which supermarkets dotted the list of companies with the best customer experience ratings.

Meanwhile, investment firms were the most likely to respond well to a bad experience, while internet and TV service companies were the least likely to provide a good response.

About the Data: The results are based on a survey fielded in Q1 2017 among 10,000 US consumers.